Maurice Ferre endorses Rick Scott to snub Dems

Former Miami Mayor Maurice Ferre, badly defeated in the Democratic primary for U.S. Senate, has endorsed Republican Rick Scott for governor, calling him an "entrepreneur who clearly understands good opportunities that translate into positive decisions that will create jobs and real economic growth for Floridians."

Ferre makes no bones about it -- he is carrying a grudge against the Democratic primary for not giving him a fair shake in the Senate race. He consistently polled in the single digits.

"Despite the fact that I am a Democrat, I am deeply disturbed by the exclusionary direction of the Florida Democratic Party,'' Ferre says in a statement released by the Scott campaign. "Even though I was the first Hispanic Democrat elected to the Florida state legislature and the first Hispanic Democrat elected mayor of a major U.S. city, I was denied the opportunity to address the Florida State Democratic Convention and denied the opportunity to participate in the Democratic US Senate Debates. This 'politics of exclusion' is an insult to every Hispanic voter in our state. Too many 2010 Democratic office seekers stood by silently as these injustices were perpetrated."